First version of foobar that I used was some 0.2x version and even then it was love at first sight (I instantly made it my default player, bye bye Winamp). I just loved the simplicity and the fact that it was already by then really customizable and - the perhaps the biggest reason - it actually looks like it belongs on my desktop as it uses the standard Windows GUI, which was the thing I had been searching for ages.

I use foobar as my primary player since 0.3x version. When I saw foobar for the first time, I was disappointed by it's ascetic interface (I love nice skins ), but this simplicity is the power of foobar! Few weeks later I found some very useful plugins, I learned string formatting techniques, and today I would not change foobar to any other player!I love foobar!!!

The three most important reasons are: -Formatting strings (the default UI is still my favourite)-Replaygain-The ability to customize everything.

I also appreciate what I experience as a the focus on quality, in the sense that everything is well thought through. Even things that seems to work just fine are improved further (e.g. speed of Replaygain scanning) and hackish solutions is avoided (as far as possible I guess). Nifty features like playlist tabs are great, and there are quite a few useful plugins too. It's all those little things in addition to the three main reasons that makes me enjoy it so much. It has had a great impact on the way I listen to music and I would say that it has enhanced my listening experience. I have also had alot of fun making formatting strings and now looks for foo_looks. So it goes without saying that I don't agree with this statement:

QUOTE (yandexx @ Apr 1 2004, 05:59 PM)

foo_looks is a crap

IMHO it's a great plugin for it's use, and my case that is as a now playing/"remote control" feature.

Honestly though, Foobar2K is the only program where I'm extremely eager to see updates - not because of a buggy nature - but because it seems that with each update (core/component,) Foobar just keeps getting better and better.

My system specs can handle any bloated multimedia managers thrown at it, but Foobar stands out because of it's intuitive configuration, album management, small footprint, and above all else, interface-configurability (upNorth and Neksus are the ones to thank here.)

i switched cause i really never liked winamp. i always had it minimized and didn't care for vis or skins. Plus, having the playlist right there with play buttons and global hotkeys is nothing to pass up on. FORMATTING STRINGS!

Because for some reason concert traders have standardized on NOT tagging files and NOT putting the song title in the file name but rather putting the setlist and other info in a text file. Foobar can (with an extension) tag and name the tracks based on the text file.

I still use Winamp, because I'm addicted to the Adapt-X plugin, which allows me to run DirectX plugins. I'll have to take a look at this foo_colvolver thingy I've heard about, to see if I can make a fingerprint of my current DirectX plugin settings and apply them to Foobar.